Fair board votes to hire Rip Rippetoe as CEO

3:10 AM,
Oct. 6, 2012

Written by

The new chief executive of the Kentucky State Fair board, a Las Vegas trade show and convention consultant who was hired Friday, will be expected to turn around the board's waning revenues and set a new direction for the organization that oversees nearly 1.5 million square feet of exhibition space.

Clifford "Rip" Rippetoe, 52, is due to start around Jan. 1, replacing Harold Workman as fair board president and CEO. Workman has been under fire lately for a variety of problems encountered by the fair board and is retiring Dec. 31. He has been president and CEO since 1993.